Hunting the Lateral Lisper
by goldenpuon
Summary: Ten humans are after Sid he sloth. But no one could say they are good at it. Follow their journey of antics as they try to catch Sid for a spiritual purpose.
1. Humans on the Loose

A story I got an idea for the other day. A bit cheesy but well worth reading. Enjoy!

* * *

A band of ten human hunters were on the look-out for an animal. But it wasn't just any ice age creature. It had to be the most putrid, fungus-covered, vile smelling sloth they could find.

To the tribe these people belonged to, sloths were a sacred animal. Every winter they would capture and kill one. The meat would be cooked and eaten to prevent famine and the fur hung up around their camp to ward off evil spirits. However, the nauseating scent of dead sloths was more likely scare off predators and than spirits (unless ghosts have a nose).

The group of hunters were homo-sapiens. However, that didn't mean they were brighter than the Neanderthals roaming around, nor that the ice age animals could understand them.

* * *

The group of seven men and three women set out from camp at sunrise. It was mid-fall and the bi-annual migration was under way. Red and yellow leaves still clung to the trees and the first winter snow would be due soon.

The hunters hadn't been searching long when one of their dogs barked. It wagged its tail vigorously while covering its nose with a paw, signaling it had caught the scent of a sloth.

Shouts and yells of excitement rippled through the group. All of them ran in the sloth's direction.

Silence fell on them when they saw the creature's footprints. The prints were round, wide, and had skid-marks beside them. The skid marks indicated the animal waddled along as it walked, and that it was indeed a sloth.

The humans spotted the owner of the prints. A chubby sloth was eating berries in a barren area of the forest surrounded by dense brush. The hunters observed, sitting as quiet as a cave lion in ambush.

Just then, a muscular male smilodon came into view.

"Now we will have to compete with this cat for our kill." a young hunter whispered to his comrades. They nodded in silent agreement.

Three hunters snuck toward the saber, concealing themselves in the wide bushes. They would scare off the huge feline when they attacked the sloth.

But the youngest and most mischievous hunter, a girl, decided to play a joke on their to-be-dinner.

She poked the bent over sloth on the rear with her blunt spear.

"Ow! Hey!" he yelled.

But to the humans it sounded like, "Uffa, muuuuuhhh!" Despite Sid's actual high pitched voice, it sounded deep and throaty to the humans.

"That's a sign it's about to go to sleep." the leader of the group announced. All ten readied themselves to spike, waiting for the foul-smelling creature to fall asleep. Meanwhile, they each wondered to themselves why sloth hadn't noticed the saber-toothed tiger in its presence yet.

But the sloth, actually Sid, just kept on munching on berries. He looked slightly nervous but pretty much unfazed. Unknown to his pursuers, the smilodon that was near him was his friend Diego. Sid's animal instincts were more honed in on detecting dangers such the hunters lurking just him than any those his predatory friend might bring. To Sid, the saber-toothed was just a wuss in a predator's body.

"Mmmm." he said happily, rubbing his claws together as he plucked a particularly delicious berry into his mouth.

"Ugggaaahaaahhhmmmph." The same low sound was heard by the humans from Sid. To them, the sloth's movement had seemed to them like the animal eating and itching its claws.

Diego was lying down in the sun and hadn't noticed any sign of danger yet. The humans were completely downwind of him and he wasn't much on the look-out for anything much today. The cat's main goal for the moment was to get a restful nap.

One of the possums in Sid's herd, Eddie, unknowingly walked through the bushes right where the hunters were. He realized what exactly he had passed when he came into the clearing where Diego was.

Eddie dropped to the ground with a quick scream. His tongue fell out of his mouth and his eyes closed. True to his possum nature, he was playing dead.

"Gagagaggubuuuuhh!" was what the humans heard.

"It's a sign from the gods!" one of the women in the band yelled, referring to the possum walking past them and fainting. This was considered an omen of good luck to the tribe for some odd reason.

All ten of them burst out of the bushes with tremendous force, their three wolf-like dogs sprinting out from behind them.

Sid screamed which sounded low to the human's ears. He hyperventilated as he blindly ran through the wall of humans. The cavemen dumbly didn't notice their quarry was heading the opposite direction. Sid ran for what felt like hours (actually three minutes). He found a high standing rock and hid behind it, collapsing in exhaustion.

Diego let out a roar and snatched Eddie by the tail. Half of the humans raced after him, forgetting their main goal.

One of Diego's pursuers, an amateur hunter, threw his spear at him. It landed in the tiger's tail, creating a superficial injury.

Just then, a lake came up. The humans watched in awe as the smilodon jumped off a ledge into it. Diego swam away with speed, the Eddie still in his mouth.

The four other people turned on the man who shot Diego with a spear.

"You wounded a god!" they screamed at him. Their faces flushed red and they balled their fists. "You know what that means!"

The targeted hunter looked at the poison oak and poison ivy his fellow tribesmen took out. He cringed and started to itch his back profusely at the thought of the treatment he was about to go through.

The other five hunters were still running on with endless energy. They didn't know the obstacle they would soon face nor did the mammoth that would be fighting them know what they were capable of.

* * *

How was it? R & R!


	2. Crazy Playground Antics

Thanks to everyone who has left kind reviews and critiques to my story. The next chapter is up. Yay! Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age.

* * *

As the sun rose higher in the sky, the crazy hunt went on. Diego was well aware of what it as he dragged himself out of the lake and pitifully laid himself on the shore. He dropped Eddie on the ground as he collapsed coughing.

The drenched tiger shakily sat up. The humans may have considered the saber's swimming speedy and graceful but it was not to Diego himself. The swim was an energy devouring, near death encounter where he was functioning on pure adrenaline.

Drowsily, he glanced over at Eddie. Diego mind snapped to full alert for a split second when he saw Eddie on the ground with his tongue hanging out and his eyes half lidded. His first thought was to think the marsupial had died somehow during their ordeal.

Diego sighed deeply in relief at the recollection that Eddie was probably still playing dead from earlier. Still, it didn't hurt to check.

The saber tooth sat close to Eddie and gave him a light poke with his claw. …No response.

Again… .No response.

Diego gave the possum a hard tap on the head which he was sure would trigger him to move. Still, the possum remained stationary. Now he really started to panic.

"Eddie, CAN you hear me?" he shouted. This time he gave the marsupial a few hard brushes on the head with his paw in a final effort to get him up.

"Oh, don't tell me I'll have to-" Diego's eyes wandered to Eddie. The thought of mouth-to-mouth for resuscitation him with a dirt-loving animal was repulsive enough. But how in the world would be do it? A tiny creature like that and his huge saber teeth would get in the way. How would he manage... to do this?

Against all his pride and dignity, Diego proceeded to try to revive the vile creature anyway.

At that moment, Eddie's eyes shot open. He saw the mouth of a huge predator traveling toward his head. Unsure of where he was, he didn't identify the animal near him at first.

Just as Diego's lips were about to touch Eddie's, the tiger heard a very delayed, "AAAAAHHHHHH! OH MY GOD!"

Diego leapt back, as did Eddie.

Eddie jumped up, horrified and disgusted. "You! You! I can't believe you….-" The possum saw the spear still protruding from his friend's tail which rung a bell about what was going on before he passed out.

Diego growled lowly. He was irritated, annoyed, and extremely embarrassed. He lowered his head to Eddie's level, glaring daggers at the small animal.

The possum understood that the smilidon wanted some dignity, or at least to regain as much as he could after this dangerously awkward moment with him.

The marsupial smiled sheepishly at the carnivore. He noted Diego was also dripping wet. "Mind to clue me in on what happened while I was out?" he said in a small voice, dragging one of his feet on the ground in front of him nervously as he stood. He put his arms behind his back, fidgeting with his claws.

(A/N: I'm not sure if I described this well, but with the foot and arm thing I was trying to get it across that Eddie was feeling very embarrassed and was trying his best not to provoke Diego's temper.)

Diego let out an exasperated sigh and proceeded to tell him what happened as well as that the herd could be in danger.

* * *

The five hunters that had chased Diego earlier were back on track. They were retracing their steps back to where they had first ambushed Sid. But one of them, the man who had gotten the poison ivy/ poison oak treatment, was itching hives that had developed on his skin. He wasn't near as quiet as the others (understandably) but none of them seemed to care if it ruined their expedition.

The leader of the hunters stopped everyone abruptly. His four tribesmen moved into a circle around him like people sitting at a campfire. "Since one of our hunting party indeed wounded a god," the leader of the band of humans said glaring at the man scratching himself like a dog, "if he does not keep quiet and the sloth is scared away, so be it. It the gods' punishment for hurting the divine." The three other people nodded.

"And if we starve this winter because we can not catch a sloth, well, it is fate and our tribe's worthy punishment." The rest of the group exchanged uneasy glances but said nothing against their leader who they either very much respected or whose power was absolute.

He put his hand on the suffering man's shoulder, shaking his head in disappointment. He spoke to the man almost like disappointed father to his son. "Foolish hunter of mine, you will suffer the most of all of us in the afterlife. What a pity, the curse you have brought upon all of us." The poor man hung his head in shame.

But the leader's emotions didn't stay down and discouraged for long. Rather, they changed back to upbeat very quickly.

"Now." he said enthusiastically, the previous event seemingly forgotten. "We need to track down that sloth. Let's get on the move again so we can bring our tribe to victory against famine this winter!"

Without even waiting for an answer, he jogged ahead. The rest of the group (including the suffering hunter) set out after him obediently. Whether the other humans followed their leaders command by complete loyalty or just blind stupidity was anyone's guess.

* * *

It wasn't long before the five of them found Sid. Thanks to his odor, he could be detected two miles away even by a species such as humans who had a poor sense of smell.

They found him where he had last been after they initially attacked. Sid was beside the large rock he had been hiding by. Too nervous to walk back into the forest alone, the sloth was waiting for one of his herd members to come and find him. The nervous mammal twisted his abnormally long neck around for danger. Sid became startled and let out a small scream anytime he heard a sound whether it was a bird, a branch moving in the wind, or a doe leading her family through the forest.

Of course when the five hunters arrived and the one of them in anguish loudly began to scratch his back on a randomly hanging tree branch, it didn't take long for Sid to detect the threat.

"Aaaaaaahhh! Somebody help me!" Sid yelled. The sloth took off as fast as his stubby legs would allow him.

The sounds of the petrified sloth resonated in the humans' ears. "Ooooohhhuuuuupooo! Loooooomamoouuuummmoooo!"

"After it!" the youngest member of the group yelled. It was the same girl known for her mischievousness from earlier. She raised her spear in emphasis at this moment to encourage her comrades to give chase.

Unknown to Sid and the hunters, they were headed for Manny's playground.

* * *

However, the scene at the playground was already chaotic.

The other half of the hunters who were running in no obvious direction literally stumbled into the haven Manny had built for Peaches.

The first human bumped into Manny's snowman, a second into a sharp rock blanketed by snow, and the last three into a tree. But this tree was baby-proofed so to speak. It had snowballs on its branches, so when hominids slammed into it, a myriad of snowballs fell on them. Also, the ice sculpture was of a sloth. So when the head fell off the sloth made of snow, the caveman who had bumped into it was horrified.

"I have insulted the most important god of all, the sloth lord! What will become of me, the curses I will have set upon me now?" he exclaimed.

In a panic, the hunter started running around, and bumped into Manny's leg. The mammoth had heard a ruckus already and had come to investigate. The scene before him was not a welcome one. Damage had already been done to the playground and five humans (including the panicked one who was now shouting gibberish by his leg) were way too close for comfort.

By their appearance, the cavemen seemed to have been through a lot. One lay unconscious by a tree that had its branches formerly covered in snowballs. Another was trying to wake her, and a third looked ready to spear Manny or whatever came too close. The fourth was by a rock with a minor wound on his side. And the last, at that moment, sprinted away from Manny. The caveman aimed his spear at the huge mammal, beads on sweat on his forehead. He appeared to be holding back tears. The reason that the man was upset (that Manny was oblivious to), was that he had bumped the sloth snowman and its head had fallen off. Therefore, he had dishonored the gods and was very worried about severe punishment.

Manny charged forward with a trumpet to fight off the foolish bunch. Of course, since it was his playground, he was very careful to destroy it any more. The mammoth was mindful to not step on anything. Also, when he was shoeing the humans away, he was obsessively cautious and careful to always chase the humans in a way where they would not panic and bump into a tree or chip an ice slide. Of course this meant Manny wasn't moving fast with his attempt to fight them off or appearing very menacing to them. Luckily, the hunter shouted to the others that he had knocked the head off the sloth snowman. His comrades hadn't realized exactly what he meant yet but they got the message somewhat. But instead of trying to figure out what their fellow tribesman was telling them, they just walked away when Manny came at them. After that, the humans regrouped in the middle of the playground. The humans did this again and again for several minutes, frustrating the poor mammoth even further.

Meanwhile, the person who lay unconscious by suddenly tree jumped up. Her eyes were alert and her spear was poised to strike.

But she didn't have a chance to attack anything.

The man who believed he now had a curse on him rushed up to her. He told her what he had done and the other four hunters finally stopped to listen. They gasped at the horror of what they had just heard. Any idea of an attack on Manny or the area was completely dismissed. Right where they were standing, the five of them dropped their spears on the spot and put their hands up in surrender.

Manfred also halted. "What are those idiots doing?" he muttered to himself. The bull knew they couldn't understand the words he was saying.

He was right. The humans just heard an irritated low rumble and saw him toss his trunk slightly. These were signs of a mild agitation. For once, the sloth hunters had a clear understanding of what an animal's body language was conveying to them though still not the words it said.

Manny eyed the horrified hunters. He stared at them with a menacing gaze and a hint of slight curiosity you could see in his eyes if you looked close enough.

An idea popped into his head. 'They were just standing there. Why not just make a loud trumpet to scare them off?' he thought. '_No_', he mentally reprimanded himself. Humans were never that predictable.

The indecisive mammoth ran out of time to think.

Sid burst into the playground, followed by the other five eager hunters.

"Aaaaah! Help me! They want my beautiful fungus-covered pelt!" he cried in absolute terror.

"Agagagaghooooouuhhhm. Ifigooooohmmmm!" was what the humans heard.

All five of the hunters who had been at the area to see the sloth snowman screamed when they saw the other five run after the sloth and accidently damage the area further doing so.

"Don't kill the sloth! We're on sacred sloth grounds!" a man yelled in warning.

"We must kill the sloth for our tribe." the newcomers automatically replied as if they had not heard a word the horror-struck man said.

Accordingly, Sid's pursuers continued after him and the other humans tried to block them with their spears. Baffled and clueless to what was going on, the five that were still hunting Sid fought the rest of the group to get to the Sid who was waddling away at the speediest pace possible.

The men and women jostled and shouted as they tried to spear each other. The first hunters to the area attacked with vigor but also with care to avoid hurting the grounds they deemed sacred. The rest battled like savages, using their fists and bare teeth as well as their stone weapons.

Manny's jaw dropped at the strange sight. They were against one another now. They seemed as stupid as dodos to him. But paternal instinct kicked him. The five that didn't know what happened before were destroying his carefully constructed playground for his daughter Peaches.

Somewhat unsure to what he was doing or up against, he charged. A sinking feeling in his stomach told the bull that he would regret this action later but logic told him these hominids were not high on the intelligence scale and wouldn't be hard to scare off.

Right after the charge, something tightly griped his back legs. That and the sound of chattering teeth told him a petrified Sid hiding behind him.

The mammoth's head turned slightly to see Sid and a man who had somehow snuck behind him. The man hurled a spear in the air. A woman from the band grabbed him desperately to stop him.

But it was too late. With two humans at his flank and eight more in front of his vision, Manny instinctively felt cornered. Forgetting Sid for a mere second, he charged the humans in front of him, crushing two in his wake. They lay lifeless and flattened where the pachyderm's enormous feel came down on them.

During the brief second Manny had left his side, Sid fled from his attackers. However, it was not fast enough. The spear hit its Sid squarely in the head.

"Yaaahhhhoowwwwwwwwwahhhhhhhh!" The sloth let out an anguished scream as the impact from the sharp spear knocked to the ground.

Manfred turned around and regrouped when he heard the loud, shrill cry. It was not a good sound to the bull's ears. It borderlined a blooding curling scream. He was sure the sloth was not faking the pain like usual by the way it sounded. He feared the worst.

-------------------

Dun-dun-dun. So, I left a cliff-hanger. But don't worry about what happened to Sid well… you'll see how he is in the next chapter. I'm not giving it away. But you'll find out soon enough. ^^

By the way, sorry if there are some run-on sentences or words missing. I did a lot of editing and I tried to make sure all the grammar is correct but it may not be. So give me the heads up if I messed up with anything.

R & R.


	3. Possums in Panic

Chapter 3 is already here! I seem to be on a roll here. XD

I owe kaktrusic for inspiration she/he gave me for the idea of this chapter. So thank you kaktrusic.

* * *

"Eddie! Eddie!" Crash yelled, running on all fours as fast as he could.

But this was not simple call from Crash to his brother to join him something fun or even a rushed game of tag. It was a serious matter. Crash was desperate, panic-stricken. What had started as a careless game of hide and seek had turned dead serious. Eddie often liked to hide and try everything he could to evade his brother during games. However, this was not one of those times.

"EDDIE!" he called again in vain, voice shaking.

This was Crash's worst nightmare. Not only had his brother been missing for over five hours but he may have already been dead. Eddie's twin had found the site where the humans ambushed Sid but had also found evidence that he had been taken or killed.

Crash had traced his brother to the very spot of dry Earth where he played dead earlier that day. The area where he had found the evidence of his twin didn't smell like any other animal besides humans and Sid (who was the smelliest of all of them). Any paw prints left behind were lost in a myriad of human shoe prints at the site. Therefore, Crash had no idea Diego had been there, only of Sid's and his brother's. But Crash could care less about the sloth at the moment.

But one thing we knew for sure. His brother, litter-mate, best friend of the world of all time was gone. 'Why?' he asked himself. 'Because he had so lamely and ignorantly thought that his brother was just playing a joke on him when he first disappeared.' Crash scolded himself.

It was true in a way. For the first hour his less frisky twin was gone, the possum just laughed and lay on the ground stuffing his cheeks with insects. At the time the he was relaxing, waiting for Eddie to find him and embarrass himself when he realized he had hid no near the hollow tree they had agreed to play hide-and-seek. But when the sun began to drop far from its highest point in the sky and evening drew near, Crash realized no prank was going on between either of them. He sincerely began to worry for the first time.

As Crash's mind snapped back to the present, he remembered another grizzly sign of what may have become of his brother. An hour or two ago, he had climbed to the top of a tall oak tree. From here, Crash was able to spot the thin outlines vultures circling some ways away. Another words, he could infer something had been killed. His mind dismissed the idea that vultures wouldn't make such a show out of a small possum that died.

"Humans! Rahh! Humans! Rahh!" he recalled them shrieking out across the land in a parrot-like manner.

But he remembered that upon further inspection, the carnivorous birds were flying some ways away from him across a slippery, vertical-sloping glacier. The water crashing down from its peak made it impossible to scale, even for the best possum climbers. Crash had no other option but to find a way around the waterfall the enormous glacier created.

It had been at what felt like an eternity since Crash last saw his brother. At first, admittedly, he had no been too afraid, even after the first hour or so of searching. Crash was as adventurous and fearless as the great weasel from down under. Well, not really but he liked to think that.

(A/N: By the weasel down under, I was making a reference to Buck. He is down under as in down under the ground and acts like he's an Australian pirate sort of also hence the name "weasel down under".)

However, as day went on and simple worry slowly transformed into terror. What's more, there was no sign of his other herd mates. The thought of what may have become of them also struck fear deep in Crash's heart.

With no hint of exhaustion or giving up, the determined possum pressed on. Neither Crash's melancholy mood nor the thought that his litter-mate could be gone for good stopped him. Crash didn't care about the fact that he had become lost himself in his quest. He would find his brother eventually, dead or alive.

* * *

Meanwhile, Diego searched the area for Sid with Eddie in his mouth. The smilidon turned his head to and fro, looking for any obvious trance the hunters had left behind. At times he ran at a quick jog, giving Eddie the shaking up of a life time.

"Can you let me down please?" Eddie exclaimed abruptly after one such run ended. "C'mon, it's been four hours!" he pleaded, wriggling his arms.

"Mno." came the carnivore's muffled response. "You didm that to mne. This honly fits." He replied. "Besides, mit hasn't even beenm an hour."

Eddie couldn't take it anymore: the hot, blood-scented breath, the pointy serrated teeth digging harshly into his soft pelt, and the feel of drippy saliva slowly breaking down his fur. It was just too much!

"C'mon pal please! I didn't mean it!" he pleaded. "Besides, you were the one who almost did the kissing part, not me! Why should I be in trouble when you di-"

A harsh growl reverberated from Diego's throat. But it wasn't the same when one third of his body was trapped inside a carnivore's mouth. The sound made his body tremble as it was emitted. It seemed as loud as a mammoth trumpeting beside his ear. Eddie shook in terror and let out a slight whimper. Was Diego serious? Was he really going to eat the Eddie today like he had threatened so many times when pranks were played on him?

A sound from Diego's throat brought the extremely bewildered possum back to the present. That, and that it somehow felt like Diego had clamped his mouth tighter around his torso. This cut off desperately needed oxygen to the possum. As well, the increased jaw force must have drawn a small amount of blood.

"Youm have had one hour in my mouth. You have one more to mgo." Eddie's captor said irritably. Perhaps Diego pitied him by putting a set time on the torture. Or maybe it was a strange type of enjoyment only a predator gets by saying something along the lines of, 'Well. You have suffered to the point where you can't take anymore. You are only half way done before it is over.' Whatever the case, the words said made the possum feel faint. It was the prolonged version of hopelessness a dying prey animal felt in the mouth of a predator before it was consumed.

Just then, Diego stopped sniffing the area for Sid. He took no more than three steps and halted. Somehow, maybe by a miracle, Eddie was dropped out of the tiger's mouth.

It was like a new life, like being reborn again to a world with fresh air. Eddie found his feet and ran forward with extreme delight. He scampered over the sweetest smelling grass, felt the warm sun shine down on him, and stepped onto…. a flattened human body!?

"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!" he screamed, putting turning his face away in horror. Eddie jumped aside automatically.

As he slowed down to make in the grotesque visuals of the mashed human before him, the possum realized what was going on.

He was in a place no other than Manny's playground. There were eight humans fighting each other and trying to get to Manny who was guarding Sid. The play area was slightly damaged with a few slides broken and several snowballs missing from the trees but none worse for the wear.

Eddie only had moments to blink before a dashing orange blur complete with claws and teeth leapt over him. It jumped over him with frightening speed and ferocity. But what was even scarier was that the figure narrowly missed his head. It left Eddie even more breathless.

The horrified possum's eyes glanced back toward Manny and Sid as his teeth chattered. It occurred to him subconsciously that it had been Diego. But it didn't matter if it was Diego, another saber toothed-tiger, or even a short-faced bear; the encounter had left Eddie too scared to move.

At the edge of his vision, he saw a spear swiftly thrown at Sid. Other spears were held up by the hunters near Manny to separate him from the sloth he guarded. Diego was in the midst of it, also trying to make his way to Sid. The humans were finally cooperating in capturing their intended quarry. Whether they had forgotten the fight earlier, decided that so called holy-playground was not a sinful place to kill a sloth, or they just plain finally agreed; no one could be sure. However, they didn't appear to be having an easy time. Manny was fighting back with his tusks and trunk and Diego with his sharp teeth and claws.

'Gosh. They have so much motivation to help save a stupid sloth. Why not me?' he thought. He wanted to yell but was in too much of a terrified state to think. Eddie simply stood there shivering with eyes so wide he expected him to burst out of his head at any moment.

Suddenly, Sid was snatched up by the humans. Diego mauled one to the ground and Manny nearly charged to crush another but they were too fast. The leader held up a stick glimmering with fire to hold the sloth's two friends long enough to allow his people to escape. To the mammals' chagrin, it worked. The hot flame held the sloth's two rescuers back and allowed the hunters just long enough to react. The hunters stampeded off, sloth and fire in arms.

Manny and Diego glanced at each other with worried, disgruntled looks. The moment the Manny startled trumpets, the sound of hissing, and of human shouts died down, Eddie thought he could finally attempt to regain composure. But he was once again taken aback in horror. Somehow, Eddie was standing on the _other _human his mammoth friend had crushed earlier.

He was an adventurous, resilient, action loving possum but this was just too much. The thoroughly tormented possum jumped a few feet in the air and fell to the ground with a quiet scream and groan. Eddie was not merely playing dead but was also truly unconscious from shock.

* * *

The next thing he knew, Eddie found himself on moving that was huge, furry, and warm. The small mammal blinked a few times to clear his blurred vision. He drew air through his parched throat and into his overworked lungs. Eddie found himself on Manny's back, too worn out and shaky to sit up.

However, he must have moved slightly because the mammoth carrying him detected motion.

"I left Ellie with Peaches in the village." he announced softly. "It seems Diego was been abusing his possum-scaring privileges. Don't worry though. He'll get it from me later. If _and _when we find Sid." Manny declared.

The sound of Eddie's beating heart thumping hard against his ribs made it difficult to focus. Still, he managed to make out every word.

'Well at least somebody realized what I am going through.' Eddie thought in relief.

The mammoth hadn't bothered to tell Ellie about what Diego had confessed to doing to one of her brothers or that Crash was also missing. Instead, Ellie's mate told her that he and the possums were going out on a guy's night out that might last a bit longer than usual. He didn't want her worrying and most of all wandering around and getting killed. Manny had sent a trusted group of aardvarks to find Crash. Still, he felt the need to tell Eddie about the situation.

"We don't know where your brother is." Manny stated. The pachyderm's booming voice echoed in the half-awake mammal's ears causing him to feel intensely worried and miserable all over again. "And if you know where he is, telling me would be helpful. Like Sid, I'm afraid it's up in the air right now. I sent a few aardvarks to track him." The usually moody pachyderm's tone was calm and strangely soothing, if not remorseful.

"Thank you." Eddie said in a small voice accompanied by a deep breath. He was not totally sure his larger counterpart had heard him but with his current state, he didn't have enough energy to care.

Eddie picked up a scent that sent it head whirling and that grew a ferocious anger inside him. It was of the so the so-called friend who had started him on the path to this weak state. His limbs suddenly felt strangely stiff. Diego must have been traveling with them yet Manny hadn't said a word yet which infuriated him. But he was not in good enough condition to put up much of a fuss about it.

"Why... is Diego here?" Eddie croaked. He saw red spots in his vision and the word began to darken in on him. The traumatized possum didn't have to get an answer from Manny before he passed out again. That is if the mammoth even heard his strained voice.

* * *

This came out WAY gloomier and sadder than I expected it. Don't worry. The next chapter will be more humorous, I promise. And not to worry, Sid is not fatally injured nor will has Eddie sustained any permanent problems from fear/shock.

Also, was that too descriptive? I have heard that you can never add enough detail to a story but this chapter seems like an exception almost to me. Let me know what you think.

Anyway, more coming soon.

R & R.


	4. A Festival Gone Wrong

Dun-dun-dun. Here's the next chapter. Sorry once again for the long wait. I apologize for not being fast about updating my stories.

I do hope the cave people do not seem dumb to the point of being offensive (though Sid's intelligence isn't exactly shown as being exceptional in this chapter either to put it lightly.) These people are based off the dodos from Ice Age 1 quite a bit. Anyway, to the story! ^^

* * *

Sid woke to the sound of drums and eerie singing voices whose words he could not decipher.

"Ah? Huh?" Sid attempted to rub his eyes with his blunt clawed-paws. However, the newly conscious mammal's forelimbs felt like they were stuck together. He grunted and squirmed as he tried to free his arms but it did no use. At this point, the slow-thinking sloth's eyes traveled to a dark brown rope that tied his limbs together. 'That's why I couldn't move my arms.' Sid thought.

The next realization that came to mind was a slight pain in his head and tail. He had no idea what it was from but didn't ache or throb too badly. It felt no worse than a minor hit in the head from Diego which he was used to. Blinking further, he noticed it was night. However, a strange light illuminated the area. There must have been a fire someplace. But Sid didn't recall starting a fire and knew that he was the sole animal with fire-starting ability in his herd.

"Wha? Where am I?" the sloth asked randomly. Sid's vision was still not up to par. However, basic shapes were beginning to form. Sid's hearing and smell was quickly improving (as much as they could for a sloth.)

Still, the sloth had no idea that he was at a human camp, or that he waiting to be sacrificed to the cavemens' gods. Two women were supervising him.

"The sloth is awake!" one of them loudly announced.

All Sid heard was, "Ba chi chi waki!" from her.

Sid lifted his head. He could see he was currently positioned above a crowd of people dancing in a circle around him. Sid was on a hard wood surface held up by four humans yodeling something over and over again in their strange language.

The surprised sloth saw people with flowers on their heads, animal skins everywhere, an enormous bonfire, and mammoth skin huts. But what he noticed most of all was the numerous humans of all ages singing and dancing. They appeared to be in costumes. Smelly fur in shades of brown, green, yellow, and more covered their shoulders. However, Sid had no idea what kind of animal the pelts belonged to. They smelled strongly of sloth but oddly, that did not ring a bell in his head.

Sid turned his head to view the rest of the area. Several men and women locked arms, prancing about in a united rhythmic pattern around a flaming torch. Others chanted and beat drums with delicately carved pictures of sloths on their sides. The whole area was alive with the sounds of music and voices. It saw green and blue woven rug even larger and more stunning than the bonfire itself. It was draped over a tree branch and featured the picture of a brownish-green sloth with teeth and pear shaped belly remarkably similar to Sid's. As well, there were scents of stewed berries, turnips, spinach and broccoli that made Sid's mouth water.

Without much thought, Sid muttered thoughts out loud to himself. "Hmm. Another celebration for me? Gee, thank you! I thought the mini-sloths were the only ones. Do these humans know about the fire king too?" The sloth lay in silence for a few moments before talking to himself again.

"Well, it can't be really be that bad right? Especially if they don't sacrifice me like the mini-sloths." Sid answered himself. He wondered why celebrations about him always involved him being immobilized and/or tied in rope. Sid lacked common sense and didn't blurt out his thoughts on that too. After all, if he was tied up, who cared? What mattered is the tribe had a festival set up to honor him; an idea Manny and the others had probably never considered.

Manny and the others… 'Wait! Where is my herd?' Sid thought suddenly. He remembered being at Manny's playground, being hit with a stick of some sort, and then…. At this point the sloth's memory faded. Sid strained his mind to remember the details of what happened at the playground. After several pensive minutes of thought, he realized he didn't recall any other details. Had his herd brought him here? Had he sleep walked over to the village? Sighing, Sid set aside his worries and began to think again about the festival taking place.

The human-held event seemed somewhat like a fire-king celebration. After all, there was a fire larger and brighter than Sid had ever seen in a human camp. Still, it didn't hurt to be sure.

"Hey guys! Is this a fire king celebration? And does my herd know I am here?" Sid asked. He tried to make his voice as loud as possible over sound of the festival.

"Booo mehhhaaah Booitthhhmeeooooh Agggaooohhmmm." was the sound the villagers heard. A few people exchanged confused glances at the sound coming from their captured animal. Still, they carried on.

Sid sighed deeply, feeling unimportant. It must have been too noisy for them to hear him with loud sound of the festival. Still, the humans should have been paying attention to him considering he was the creature of honor here.

Whatever was going on, Sid's immediate safety didn't seem to be in jeopardy either.

"They aren't hunting me. I guess leaving here can wait. After all, they're bound to start honoring me as the main guest sooner or later." Sid said happily. Still, he felt a tinge of uncertainty and rejection by the people that were honoring him yet paying no attention to his actual existence.

Glancing over, the shunned mammal spotted the itching man from earlier rolling on the ground to the rhythm the others danced. The sloth glanced at the man, hoping he was ok. But he wasn't making any sounds of distress, just randomly rolling on the ground.

"Must be a symbol of appreciation." Sid whispered to a woman near him.

"Uhhhh meeeggggiiiiss ilotooommmmaaaaa." was the low sound she heard directed toward her.

She gasped. This could only mean one thing. Her people had upset the gods!

The cavewoman took off, screaming and flailing her arms. "Oh my! The gods! The gods, the gods, the gods!"

She yelled on the same statement repeatedly without seeming to take a breath. She shambled right into a village elder whom she knocked over. The old man glanced up at her nervously. Even though she lacked bulk, the petite woman managed to knock people and objects twice her body weight over easily in her frantic state.

Next, she nearly sprinted into the bright bonfire people were dancing around. A young boy tried to pull her back. However, that just resulted in the lady changing direction and almost trampling him. After that, the woman ran into a hut and knocked the thick mammoth skin out its strong frame. Because this created quite a lot of noise and caused the hut to collapse (not to mention that the house would take ages to repair), others finally began to worry. The woman shrieked and pouted gibberish. In fact, even people in the tribe who spoke the same language as her couldn't understand a bit of it. A few thought she might be possessed by an angry spirit.

Sid watched her with wide eyes in silence. He had no idea what to make of this. Was it part of the ceremony? Or perhaps it the way they alerted others to danger from predators?

Two of the clan's best warriors sprinted after the crazed lady to stop her. One of them leaned over gently to grab her. But with one arm she accidently punched squarely in the groin. He doubled over on his knees in pain. Imagining that a strong bloke like himself could capture the small woman charging toward him, the other warrior stood right out in front of her. However, this man too was out-matched. He was knocked over and trampled by her heavy snowshoes. This left him with several bruises, a fractured finger, and bloody nose. The warriors lay on their sides groaning.

People frowned at the lady as she walked past them in her crazy state. Her gait was between a run, waddle, and limp. They parted for her to pass through. They didn't want to share the fate of their great warriors.

The itching man from earlier decided that he needed a new name after the poison ivy treatment he got for wounding a god earlier (really Diego from chapter 1). After all, the event had changed his life in his mind. 'If I was called by something different after I proved myself, I will no longer be considered the same cursed man.' he reasoned.

At that the man declared, "I am Cursed Poison Oak Man!" I will lift the curse from myself: the curse I laid on this entire village when I threw a spear at a saber toothed tiger god carrying an opossum! I'll save the village and this woman!" he shouted bravely.

Still, no one was moved by the speech. The villagers scowled and muttered words of uncertainty and distaste about the caveman in each other's ears.

But this didn't stop the man who was now known as 'Cursed Poison Oak Man.' He shuffled over to the maddened lady at an odd walk with his left knee continually held forward and his back stooped. "This is my tribal good luck shuffle." he said stupidly with a grin.

At this slow, clumsy gait he described, the caveman limped toward the speedily moving woman. For a while Cursed Poison Oak Man tried to catch up. He attempted to speed up his walk keeping the same posture. However, that just left the supposedly cursed man panting and his back aching.

Eventually, the caveman lost patience and decided to make a "literal" blind leap of faith. He cleared his throat, cracked his knuckles, and tensed his muscles. Like a hero out of a bad comic strip, Cursed Poison Oak Man made a high, daredevil-like leap with closed eyes. He landed headfirst into the dirt directly in the still-frantic lady's path. Clearly, the try-to-be hero hadn't learned from the two injured warriors, nor was he doing a better job at stopping her.

The rest of the village didn't realize the terrible mistake until after Cursed Poison Oak Man completed his jump. "No! Stop! You'll die! She's possessed by angry gods!" the majority of people shouted while a few smarter individuals screamed, "You brainless idiot! Get out of the way!"

But he didn't hear them. The foolish caveman did nothing more to halt the lady than hold up his palm in a stop signal while he lay in the dirt.

However, it was too late. The woman half walked-half toddled over to him kicking up dirt and waving her arms in panic.

Cursed Poison Oak Man only realized when she began to trample him that his tactics were absolute rubbish. In desperation, he latched onto her waist and screamed.

But Cursed Poison Oak Man only let out a few cries before the crazed woman stopped doing her speedy shuffle-walk. Instead, she quickly took off in a full blown sprint. "Help me! Gaaa! Gaa! Tha Goooouuuds!" she cried.

The two neared a boiling tar pit. But that didn't stop the woman. She proceeded to run blindly to the pit. She let out a final cry of the, "Tha go-!", before she slipped in along with Cursed Poison Oak. A sudden "glop glop glop glump" noise was heard. They had fallen into the burning tar pit the humans had intended to cook Sid in. The villagers, bystanders to the scene, cringed. They closed their eyes and looked away in disgust.

Just after they had disappeared below the burning surface, a normal round bubble and an irregular shaped one rose out of the pit. Most of the villagers mistook the oddly shaped bubble for sacred image of a sloth rising to the heavens.

They looked on with looks of surprise and awe as the two bubbles ascended high into the night sky.

For Sid however, this was not a time he felt amazed like cavemen. He felt panicky. When the two people fell in, he swore he saw a dead sloth's front paw sticking out of the tar pit as if waving spookily. (A/N: I hope that is not too creepy.) It all made sense now. The humans were going to cook and consume him! The possible fate of his herd crossed his mind now that he realized what these people wanted him for. Manny, Ellie, the possums, and the rest could have been hurt, caught, or worse! Still, Sid didn't have time to wonder what had happened to them. He had to escape fast or risk being broiled in goo!

The sloth jumped up from the wooden platform where he lay, terrified. Still tied up, he rolled around shouting, "Help me! Help!"

Despite the being tied with rope, he managed to quickly prop himself up on his four imprisoned limbs. Sid clumsily hopped along this way as a means of escape. However, it was slower than the sloth's typical waddling gait and much more physically strenuous.

Somehow, the sloth succeeded in traveling twenty meters. Sid was intent on getting away from the cavemen that he did not even notice he was about to roll down the highest hill in the forest. Sid was barely even out of the camp when he got to the summit of the hill and received the shock of his life. Panic gave way to terror when as Sid's limbs buckled out from under him and the world spun around in circles out of control. The poor mammal rolled with great speed and force. His teeth chattered and whole body shook as he fell down the sharp, rocky incline. Sid let out a "glubbering" sound as everything flipped over again and again in his vision. The poor sloth was sure he would pass out or die when he got to the bottom of the hill. Still, Sid prayed something soft would halt him.

The sloth's wish did not come true. As he neared the bottom of the steep hill, he came to an extremely abrupt and painful stop. Sid hit something that felt like the hard, unbreakable wood of a birch tree. It completely knocked the wind out of him.

The half conscious mammal didn't have time to recover before a man with a spear abruptly picked him up and dropped him in a wooden cage. The cage happened to be the exact object Sid had collided with on the way down the hill.

* * *

Only after Sid was captured did he become aware of what happened. This and that his whole body aching miserably. Sid's legs, feet, head hurt more than he thought possible. He was pretty sure he was shouting out in pain. But in his current state, he couldn't be sure. Sid saw multiples of everything. The traumatized sloth was horribly dizzy and too woozy even to form a slurred word on his tongue.

The next time Sid was aware (which could have been minutes or even hours later if he had been unconscious), he heard a spine-tingling hiss and growl came from the cage. The traumatized mammal blinked but could not make out what was in front of him. All he could make out is t it had very large eyebrows, long eyelashes, and buck teeth. It growled again. This time the sound it made sounded more frightening and deadly to his ears than the roar of Rudy from the dinosaur world or the bone-crunching sound of a cave lion sinking its jaws into the backbone of a living animal. There could have been a call huge carnivore in the cage but in reality Sid was hallucinating from trauma.

At this point Sid must have fainted because when consciousness returned to the sloth, he was back at the top of the hill from the looks of it. Of course he could barely tell in his condition. He was oblivious that the people from the festival near him and other humans here that were not there before.

The dim-witted people that had held the ceremony for his were known as the Slothni tribe. They were having a meeting with the five humans that had put Sid in the crate.

Sid himself had no idea he was being carried in the wooden crate by the five new humans until it was dropped abruptly with a loud thud. It fell to the ground with such a loud noise that even the dead would have heard. It rattled up the poor sloth further.

"You said you wanted a sloth didn't you? People of the Slothni tribe? Well I got caught you one plus the extra stinky one you pitifully lost." a booming voice declared out of nowhere. Sid's eyes traveled to the owner of the voice. He could barely tell in his condition whom or what was speaking. But, if Sid could have been more aware, he would have seen a man talking to the tribe that had wanted to cook him. The male human was tall, muscular, had a crooked smile, and wore a bear skin.

The brawny caveman spoke in an authoritative, yet playful sarcastic tone. "The sloth we found of yours was unconscious and bruised. What'd you do, sacrifice your sloth this year by throwing the biggest hill in the forest? Or is that your idea of catch and release?" the large man teased. He furrowed his eyebrows as part of the act to appear angry though he was laughing inside.

The people of the Slothni tribe were speechless. They couldn't believe they had sinfully let Sid get injured accidently before he was meant to be sacrificed. Also, the fact that the man speaking with them was from a much more intelligent enemy tribe that had caused them great losses in the past made them freeze in fear. No one ran or tried to fight the man for the simple reason that no one else in their village was trying to. They acted as one. Even though there were about forty of them versus five people they could easily kill, no one thought to do anything but stand there as the others were doing.

The man knew full well they wouldn't attack him. The Slothni tribe were too wrapped up in the sin they had committed than do anything violent. He knew that anything he mentioned something sinful the Slothni people had done, they wouldn't hurt even their worst enemy out of guilt for their gods.

A prime example of their blind loyalty to the gods, he recalled, is when had mentioned that the Slothni Tribe had insulted the beetle god by killing a deer several years back. The tribe didn't even have a beetle god. However, it still let the villagers decide not to ever hunt deer again. And even though a third of the clan starved one winter because no one hunted numerous deer in the area, the belief persisted.

In addition, the leader knew from experience that the tribe acted as a single unit when a number of them were together. This meant that if most of the villagers were not attacking a person insulting them (such as in his case), no one villager would try to break the peace. They acted more like a robotic mob than anything. The Slothni tribe acted like a herd of antelope. When a predator hunts them, no antelope ever starts running unless they see the rest run. These primitive people acted in the same way as if by instinct.

The man continued conversing with after that moment of thought. "Oh, and the legend that you are descended from sloths! Gotta admit, that's absolute bogus. You are the long lost cousins of dodo birds with your lack of brains." he said, taunting them.

After giving the people a moment more for what his last statement sink in, the large man went on talking to, and belittling the tribe further.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sid thought he heard the creaky sound of cage door opening. The next thing he knew, a strange furless appendage was prying his mouth open. The confused sloth thought he heard someone say, "Crazy sloth. Hope the humans kill you with that plant they're feeding you. You're such a waste of fur!" The voice was harsh and feminine. It came to Sid's mind that the voice may have belonged to the creature that was making such threatening, horrible sounds earlier.

Just then, the furless object, (which he figured out was a human hand), stuffed some foul tasting herbs down his throat. Sid could have sworn that he coughed the putrid stuff up. However, instead of becoming poisoned, unconscious again, or at worst dead, he was feeling unbelievably better minutes later. The pain that had engulfed his whole body was now numbed to a dull ache and the awful wooziness was almost completely gone. Sid found the strength to lift his head. But the animal he saw near him in the cage was someone he wished he didn't know. The menacing and revengeful the infamous face of the creature could identify her any where. It was Sheba, better known for being the only sloth of all time capable of beating up saber toothed tigers. A feeling of despair and dread filled Sid. She looked as foul-tempered as ever. He knew how strong and unpredictable she was.

As Sid became lost in thought, Sheba sat in the cage with her paws on her hips. She glared mercilessly at anyone who dared to peer in her direction. Sid was shocked she wasn't trying to attack him or the humans. She was certainly the type to want to fight when captured. Was there some sort of collaboration between the humans and her? He had to know.

"Uhh. Shoba. Whoy are youmm not attack-….attacking the cava…. the cave people." Sid found that his words were still slurred. Even though the herb the human had just given Sid had helped him greatly, he had still not fully recovered from the near-death hill experience earlier. Speaking left Sid out of breath. His strength, though almost negligible compared to any other animal's, was not fully back either.

"BECAUSE!" came the delayed, yet ferocious response of the she-sloth to Sid's question. Sheba's savage voice reverberated through the cage. "If I attack now, they will spear me? Do I look stupid to you? I'll wait until they let me out to cook or skin me. Then they'll be caught off-guard and have no chance to escape. It makes their consequences of capturing me against my will that much greater." she explained irritably. "Understand sloth?" she demanded.

"Yesmm… Ugjj miss…-"

"I'm Miss SHEBA!" she bellowed.

Any further conversation was cut off because the racket had attracted the attention of the people nearby. One of them earlier kneeled down to inspect the two animals. She cast both of them harsh suspicious glares in the process.

* * *

Meanwhile, the large man and the Slothni tribe were almost done with their lengthy talk. The caveman leader from the enemy tribe decided to end the discussion with an extremely harsh act stating that the two tribes were not friends.

"Oh yeah. One more thing." he said casually. "We have a gift for you. It's the vicious sloth my hunters caught. You can have it for free. Enjoy your celebration." he said with faked enthusiasm.

He tried not to smile at the cruel joke. The caveman may have had a nasty sense of humor but the man still thought they deserved some dignity.

As soon as the evil-doer finished speaking, the cage door opened and Sheba sprinted out. She was ready to maul anything in her path.

Sid observed this pessimistically and Sid bit his lip. Now that Sheba was fee, all the humans around him would likely be injured or killed. The sloth turned back to look at the broad featured man as he spoke again.

"And about the sloth _you_ caught," the menacing man drawled as people screamed and Sheba charged after the terrified villagers. "it is so dirty, it's not even fit for the dogs to eat. We're going to release it. Enjoy the famine this winter! Let's see whose tribe survives the next 20,000 years! Hahahha!" At that, the four other people from the enemy tribe burst out laughing with their leader.

Sid blinked. Though he didn't understand a word of what his captors said, he knew their laughter had something to do with letting Sheba hurt the Slothni Tribe. The sloth furrowed his eye brows and stared at the four humans who had just let Sheba out to kill a whole village of people.

But, before Sid could do anything, all five of the humans picked up the crate and took off running.

Sid gazed back as the village as he was taken away. He thought the laughing would lead Sheba to the five humans. But it didn't. Sid's vision was clearing up even further. From what he could see, the raging female sloth was completely distracted by the villagers she was attacking. The five cavemen would have an easy escape. The sloth felt disgusted and upset by their behavior.

"What are you guys doing?! Sure those people tried to kill me but why do they have to die? It's not their fault that two of them that fell into the tar pit last night couldn't be rescued!" Sid shouted out to no one in particular. Of course, Sid didn't look very angry even when he tried to be. The people continued on without giving Sid a hint they had heard anything from him.

The sloth tried a few more retorts and come-backs at them, at first to stop Sheba and then to let him go. However, neither worked. Sid slumped down in the crate in defeat, admitting to himself that they didn't understand him and that he would most likely be their next meal.

Sid was carried for a long time. The people took him across streams, over a cliff, and through valleys. The five humans seemed to be trying to get away from Sheba as fast as possible. If this was the case, they well understood her potential to hurt them if she were to catch sight of them again.

* * *

Somewhere along the journey, Sid had fallen asleep because the next thing he knew, he was woken by the hard clang of a spear against the cage.

The startled sloth jumped back with a shout. The man who had thrown a spear at Sid was standing in front of him. The sloth eyed the person cautiously and leaned back slightly in fear. However, the time of day did not escape the sloth's senses. The sun was out and fresh dew could be smelled on the grass and trees. Several of bird calls could also be heard in the tall trees. From the appearance of his surrounds, Sid could tell it was definitely morning.

Out of the corner of his eye, Sid could also see there was a dying fire and animal fur lay on the hard Earth where the humans must have set camp during the night. Still, Sid hadn't forgotten the man staring at him. The sloth once again glued his eyes to the caveman, dreading his possible next move.

Instead of grabbing his spear again like Sid was expecting, the man suddenly exclaimed, "Gosh! That critter's snoring was so loud."

Sid leapt back with a shout of surprise at the unexpected outburst.

"I'm sure glad it's awake now!" the spear thrower continued. "I didn't get a wink of sleep once we made camp late last night with the sound of that sloth."

He took a few steps away from Sid and toward the other humans. "If we didn't try to respect animals, even the dirtiest ones, I would have woken it and slew it with my spear on the spot! Not that we've treated this one so kindly." he muttered.

Sid's other captors nodded their heads in agreement with the spear thrower. The man speaking shook his head as he rubbed his forehead. Never had a sleeping animal given him such a migraine.

"Ditto!" one of the women shouted in response. "Good thing we finally get to get rid of it now!" she exclaimed. The rest nodded.

They immediately opened the heavy cage, untied Sid, and dropped him on the ground.

Sid couldn't believe his luck. He was free? "Wait... I- I am free?" Sid stuttered, examining his untied claws. He felt the soft Earth beneath his feet and the fresh breeze. At that moment, the mammal felt a wave and extreme happiness and relief come over him.

A person turned back from the group and shouted over his shoulder to Sid. "Hope you die sloth. That or don't make any more that smell like you. Good grief." She waved her hand to emphasize Sid's odor problem.

Sid scratched his head and stood up, alertly staring at the woman.

"Nice that it can't understand me." the woman admitted to her comrades jovially. At that, they ran off into the woods. They left a dazed, confused Sid lost in the early morning far away from his herd.

Sid waddled over to a log feeling absolutely wiped out. He hadn't forgotten that he had just slept all night and the thrilling happiness he had experienced only a moment ago about being released. However, Sid was genuinely tired. With the effects of the herb wearing off, the pain from yesterday's incident was coming back with vengeance. He made due by curling up inside the log he had found before it got worse. The sloth hoped his herd would be able to find him soon. At that thought, his head fell back against the log as he suddenly drifted into a deep sleep, snoring loudly.

* * *

So, how was it? I spent more time on this than any other chapter so far for this story. I checked extremely hard for grammatical errors but there might still be a few in there due to the vast amount of editing I did.

I am also open to constructive critism as long you explain what I did wrong so I can improve my story for the future.

Anyway, R & R. Hope you enjoyed reading this chapter.


	5. The News

Yay! It's another chapter! How in the world did I get it done so fast? Maybe because I took some of my reviewers suggestions. I dunno… lol Anyway, enjoy.

* * *

Manny, Diego, and Eddie were on their way to save Sid. No doubt, it had been unusually easy for them tracking the humans, especially Diego.

With every lungful of air he inhaled, Diego could smell the sharp tang of poison ivy and poison oak. Furthermore, there were numerous marks on trees where Cursed Poison Oak Man had been itching. The group's hopes were high about success on their mission. The route to the human village was perfectly laid out before them. However, the smilidon noted that Manny seemed far from relaxed as he lumbered along.

"So, Diego, this is how you think you can treat Eddie. By giving him a shock by nearly eating him like that!" Manny said abruptly. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you and I would be in with Ellie if something happened to either of her brothers?" he huffed, glaring at Diego angrily.

Diego's pride was already wounded. Not only had the most embarrassing moment happened between him and Eddie, but if the mammoth found out, it would just lead to more humiliation. As well, the tiger felt guilty for what he had done to Eddie. He knew he was wrong and had let his predatory instincts get out of control. Still, Diego had dignity and did his best to keep true feelings from showing.

"Ok. So I overstepped my boundaries! But you still have no idea why." the tiger shouted back.

"Oh. I do. I have plenty of ideas! In fact I know exactly what you're talking about" Manny rumbled. A tinge of humor was detectable in his voice. "It is something along the lines of _you _accidently kissing Eddie." he explained, a trace of a smile appearing from underneath his trunk.

Rage. Absolute rage. Diego felt like he was on fire. The smilidon desperately tried to keep his fur from bristling and himself calm. "How? How did you know?" he demanded.

The mammoth grinned further. "A little birdie told me. You didn't think that no one noticed you in the lake did you?"

"So you saw me running away from those hunters?" Diego asked irritably with his ears pinned back.

"No." Manny answered in a low irritated tone. The mammoth knew Diego knew exactly where he was at that time. The mammoth was working on his playground before the five humans stupidly ran into it and damaged it. "You noticed that The Lone Gunslinger is back in the area right?" the pachyderm inquired.

"And?" the smilidon asked harshly, showing his teeth.

"Let's just say one of the vultures in Lone's flock saw you. Those humans drew plenty of attention to themselves as it is."

When he heard statement from Manny, Diego's pride melted like ice in the Sahara Desert. The humiliated carnivore let his head sag slightly as they walked, defeated. It would do no use to argue anymore.

The vultures would surely tell every animal in the area within a thirty mile radius about this. Plus, the Lone Gunslinger would probably spruce up the story; make himself look like a big shot like when he gave the animals the news of impeding doom about the flood. If the vultures indeed knew about what happened with Eddie, the saber tooth tiger was royally screwed. He would never be able to show his face in that forest again without comments about his attraction to possums and animals of the same gender.

Diego was too busy sulking to notice Eddie jump off of Manny's back and him a high five on the trunk. The two locked eyes for a moment.

"Not a word of this to anyone." the mammoth carefully instructed Eddie. "I did you a huge favor with this. If one of the vultures finds out on its own, fine. If they don't know about it, I'll tell Diego I made the one who saw what happened swear to secrecy. Meaning do not tell anyone about we did here, even Crash. Understand?" he whispered.

The possum gave him a thumbs up and peace sign. "Got it!" he said enthusiastically in the mammoth's ear.

The mammoth was somewhat relieved Eddie was feeling so much better with just a few hours of sleep after his time in Diego's mouth. On the other hand, this was the craziest and worst idea he had ever been a part of. If Eddie was impulsive enough to tell a soul, word could get back and he'd in a world of trouble. Much like the trouble Diego thought he was in with the vultures, Manny noted with distaste.

"The only reason I did was to get Diego in line. Nothing else." he muttered to himself. Although, deep inside, the mammoth knew he really agreed to the idea because felt sorry for the possum.

* * *

When midnight came the previous day, Crash was forced to put take a break from looking for his brother.

But when morning arrived, the possum woke up feeling far from his usual mischievous, playful self. Melancholy and hopeless was more like it. That is, until he came to a thicket and found what appeared to Eddie's pink tail poking out from a bush!

"Eddie!" he shouted in relief and excitement.

Crash threw his arms around the tail. But instead of feeling rough and dry, it felt warm and sticky.

"Whoa!" he yelled, as the slimy object slipped back into the bush. It made an odd slurping sound.

"Is your name Crash kid?" someone blurted.

"What the? Huh?" Crash responded, looking around with a dazed expression.

An elderly yet very in-shape black female aardvark walked out from behind the bush. Her shiny coat shone against the sun it appeared that she had a great deal of muscle for her age. "I'll take that as a yes." she replied with a smile.

He jumped onto a tree limb above old female's head. "How exactly do you know my name?" Crash asked with a suspicious glare. He lowered himself to eye level with her for added emphasis. This silly yet scary encounter had revived his sarcastic sense of humor. It made him forget about his brother for a second.

"Name's Bella." She ignored that the possum was too close for comfort. "A mammoth by the name of Manny sent me to find you. I heard your friends Diego and Edison are on a quest to find a squishy green thing." she said in a friendly yet throaty tone.

"My brother?" the amazed possum asked.

"Yes. He's the one… uh… Edison, Edwin, Edward…. Eddie?"

"YES! It's Eddie." Crash cried as he leapt in the air with joy. He knew now Eddie was safe and sound traveling with the others. The possum was extremely happy his brother was alive, and more thrilled he was on some kind of journey or adventure. 'Wait?' Crash thought. 'She said they're on a quest to find a squishy green thing?' The possum drew a blank.

"What's the squishy green thing they're looking for?" he asked hanging from a branch.

"Well. Let's see." She put a foot to her chin in thought. "I heard he has bug eyes, buck teeth, and fur with fungus growing in it."

"That's Sid!"

"Is that so? Well I heard the humans took him." Bella replied sadly.

Crash grabbed her long snout with a paw and his tail. "If Sid's been captured, then we have no time to lose! Let's catch up to Manny and my bro." he said with devilish grin.

"No problem! I'll never let my old age slow me down!" the elder declared energetically.

Crash hopped onto her back and hooked his tail around her body. He stuck a battle pose. The possum's old self was back. "Go get em' old timer!"

* * *

How was it? Hopefully not too short but I have a lot more in mind for my next chapter that builds on this. I tried to get some humor in here. But it still feels like every chapter I write for this belongs to a different story in regards to the tone as far as humor, drama, etc. Ah well, I'll figure it out sooner or later.

R & R.


	6. Led by a Lie

I do not own Ice Age for the zillionth time.

* * *

Sid woke to the sound of chanting and a blurry orange glow. The sloth went from drowsy to full alert instantaneously. He lifted his head to take in the scene before him.

It was midday and there were four sleeping humans around him next to a fire. Some of them wore skins with pictures of sloths drawn on them. All of them had cloths wrapped around some minor wounds and bruises they had. No doubt, they were a bunch of survivors that escaped when Sheba had attacked them during the sacred sloth ceremony.

Sid took note of cloths and animal-skin bandages all over him. Apparently, humans had been caring for their idol's injuries whilst he had slept. Still, he felt achy. Bruises, scrapes and bumps covered his body from the extremely painful roll down the slope at the village.

Despite the fact that they had cared for him during the night, Sid still felt afraid of them. He cringed at the sight of them. Sid had to get away from the sleeping, sloth-worshiping humans before they woke up or—worse─ tried to sacrifice him again.

Sid jumped up and attempted to waddle away but something warm and furless had a firm grip on one of his ankles. He tripped and fell onto his belly with a yelp.

"Help!" he screamed.

As if in opposition to Sid's cries, what hung tightly onto his foot—a rough human hand—tightened further around his back leg. The human who held him had such a firm grip on Sid's leg that he felt some of the circulation being cut off.

Sid called for help and protested as he was dragged toward a muscular, hairy man's mouth. His captor was snoring so loud that animals half a mile away could have heard. The sleeping human's long beard was blown up and down violently with every thunderous inhale and exhale he took in his sleep.

"Please! Please don't hurt me! My toes and I are too young to be eaten!" Sid yelled anxiously. He tried to find a rock or stick to grab onto to pull himself away but the man was strong—even in slumber. He successfully pulled Sid's foot up to his tan, plump face.

"Mmm. …Masdfo…don steek..." he garbled. The unconscious man was about to sink crooked, yellow teeth into the poor sloth's toes when Sid managed to latch onto a piece of firewood buried partially in the ground and escape. However, the wood was not as firmly rooted in the soil as it appeared; when Sid grabbed hold of the wood, it bent backwards before flying out of the ground. Both Sid and the wood were flung in the opposite direction the human was pulling Sid. Both landed on a poorly constructed tent.

When the terrified mammal collided with the tent, it gave way and fell to the ground. However, there were soft, bouncy animal fur pillows in it, so Sid bounced up and down repeatedly. Unfortunately, each time Sid landed, he hit the pillows in a different painful position. He held onto the wood as he tried to stabilize himself unsuccessfully.

"Aggha! My head."

"Help!"

"Owwha! My tail!"

"Ahh! My leg! Gee that hurts!"

"Owie! My eye"

"Can…ow…. someone …. ouch….. please … help!" the anxious sloth yelled between bounces.

The four humans suddenly woke all at once after they heard, "Cammmpph uuuupiiiiiiiiineeeeooo feeeeeoooootttttooo uuuuummmpppphhhhhha", coming from the sloth.

"It's getting away!" they all shrieked in panic. They automatically jumped up and grabbed their spears.

But it was too late. With a final, huge bounce, Sid was launched off of the tent and onto a long icy slope.

* * *

Meanwhile, Manny, Eddie, and Diego had reached the remains of the sloth-worshiping village.

Manfred was cautiously inspecting the area with Eddie whilst Diego searched for clues that would lead them to Sid. The overwhelming aroma of the incense and ashes filled the air. Burned rubble and decorations from the ceremony littered the area as well.

Diego sniffed the area where the huge fire once was. "Seems like the humans who were here had some major cook out planned."

"They got cooked out alright." Manny replied in a nasally tone as he folded his trunk in a way to avoid smelling everything. The stench of burnt meat and oils used for the ceremony was so strong it was sickening. "Is there anything _else_ that might be useful in finding Sid here?" he asked, almost in a shout.

Eddie effortlessly skidded off Manny's trunk onto the ground and pointed to a flat rock and some severed vines. "Check this out! I think I found a clue."

The mammoth and saber tooth tiger rushed over. "Yep. Sid was definitely here! Haha!" Eddie laughed at some tidbit of information the others didn't know. He held the vine up and sniffed it from distance.

"What's so funny?" Diego quizzed, eyes scanning the area for a possum joke. Diego and Manny only had to take a step closer to know what the possum meant. The rock and vines smelled of mud, goo, fungus, and decomposition.

"Eww. What'd they do? Bath him in a swamp?" Diego exclaimed, holding his paw over his nose. The scent of the sloth was even more strong and repulsing than usual.

"Whatever happened to Sid, it was close enough." Manny replied as he recoiled in disgust. "C'mon Diego. Find what direction Sid went so we can get out of here!" he commanded. The mammoth marched off hastily; eager to find the information they needed and leave.

Manfred came to an abrupt stop when Eddie suddenly shoved some scented oil into his face. "Hey look! It smells like dead animals and mud pies!" he said with a grin.

Manfred resisted the urge to vomit. "Let's just find where Sid went already!" he grumbled.

Diego gazed around. Besides numerous human footprints, there were marks around a steep hill from a cage of some sort. Claw-marks around it with a few red patches on the ground seem like a sloth had been attacking the tribe. The smilidon trotted to the hill.

"Eddie, Manny. I found something!" the saber called.

The two animals hustled over. They looked over the prints and suspicious splotches of blood in the dirt. "Well?" Manfred asked impatiently.

"It seems that Sid fell down that hill and was in a cage with another sloth." Manny and Eddie exchanged looks of confusion. Diego cleared his throat. "This… other sloth, judging by her scent and the paw prints, is the sloth that has beaten me up on several occasions."

"_SHEBA_?" Eddie and Manny shouted in unison.

"Yep. That's right" Diego concluded. He lowered his head to focus in on the rest of the findings. The smilidon traced where the prints went with his paws. "It looks like Sheba attacked the villagers but not Sid." the saber informed them. "I think Sid, that he…." The saber paused.

"Go on." Eddie encouraged. The possum gestured with his paws for Diego to continue.

"Well, that hill, or slope rather… is very steep. If I am right that Sid fell down it, then I bet he was knocked out or hurt." Diego said glumly.

The other two mammals walked to the edge of the slope. "You see those small rocks peeking out from underneath the soil on the hill?" Diego gestured with a claw to the small, jagged rocks jutting out from the Earth.

"Yeah... What about them?" Manny asked with slight impatience. He arched an eyebrow. Why in the world was his friend being so detailed about his tracking skills all of a sudden? Was there something distinctly important he and Eddie needed to know about every particular clue Diego was pointing out to them?

Eddie studied the rocks Diego was referring to closely.

"It looks like he came to an abrupt stop and hit something hard at the bottom. My guess is it was a cage of some sort." The saber gestured to the far bottom of the hill where the indentation in the dirt from Sid rolling down made a deep, sharp turn with skid marks in the ground.

The saber motioned for them to walk down a much less steep incline adjacent to the slope so they could see where Sid landed more closely. Diego's friends did as they were told.

"You see that?" Diego asked. He pointed to five pairs of human shoe prints.

"Yeah?" the mammoth and possum asked at once.

"From where he came to a stop, five humans carried Sid back up the hill and then took him away from here." The tiger answered plainly.

"Dude. Why didn't you just tell us Sheba was here, Sid rolled down the hill, and now that he's hurt and we need to find him because humans have him? What's with all the details?" the marsupial protested, paws on his hips.

"Oh, I don't know." Diego replied in an almost-purr, shrugging. "Maybe because a certain someone threatened to tell the whole forest community what happened with Eddie… by accident! A_ 'someone'_ who relies a whole lot on _my_ tracking skills and who could do a lot more of the tracking himself!" Diego spat, directing the snide remark solely at Manny.

"Hey!" Manny snapped. "If you had been watching Sid like you were supposed to, none of this would have happened!" he rumbled, "And it was the _vulture,_ I said, who saw and might tell everyone! Where's your logic? Now you somehow think it's _me_ who is the cause of this trouble? What's with you?" He yelled. The mammoth's voice didn't falter nor did he show any signs of hesitation when scolding Diego. Eddie noted that Manny was doing a superb job at lying about the fact that it was the vultures who saw this and not Eddie; who really came up with the whole idea.

"And what? If I hadn't saved Eddie, we would be one possum less and Sid would still be here? Is that what you're saying?" Diego growled. "You think you had to explain this whole thing to me! I would have just as _easily_ figured it out on my own!" Diego yelled with his fangs exposed. This was rapidly growing into a heated argument.

"What?" Manny stuttered in exasperation and surprise. His feline friend was not normally this ill-tempered and quarrelsome. He took a step backward before glaring daggers at his friend. "You didn't have a clue about the vultures! And you have the nerve to say that you would have figured it all out on your own with your own skills Mr. 'I-Want-Help-And-To-Do-Less-Tracking-Right-Now'! Well if you hadn't so foolish by handling Eddie in your mouth like he was some dead carcass, this NEVER would have happened!" He trumpeted.

"Like that had anything to do with what happened at the lake? I saved his life by carrying him in my mouth for crying out loud!" Diego retorted with a growl. The smilidon's claws were out and he had his ears pinned back in anger.

"Oh and now you blame me for complaining about what you did to Eddie?" The mammoth huffed, becoming visibly more enraged. Manfred had lowered his head as if about ready to ram Diego with his tusks; his muscles were taut and his was fur visibly on end. Diego had his mouth open as if ready to bite or roar. The feline had his sharp, four inch claws unsheathed.

Eddie—who had been watching in stunned silence until now—realized that this disagreement was becoming increasingly combative. Pretty soon his friends would start to get physical. The possum had correctly guessed that getting Manny to promise to tell everyone in the area about how Diego almost kissed him would cause the saber much humiliation and discomfort. However, he hadn't expected it to amount to such a huge fight or Diego and Manfred turning against each other. If this continued, the possum knew the two might separate—or even attack each other—splitting their rescue party.

Eddie bravely jumped in between the two fiercely bickering mammals. At this moment, both had their heads lowered to glare at each other squarely in the eyes as if wanting to gauge each other's eyes out.

"STOP!" Eddie shouted at the top of his lungs. He held both his paws up in a stop signal at both sides of his body. Diego and Manfred drew back slightly, taken aback at the sudden appearance of the possum. Eddie's pulse raced and he took short, shallow breaths. "I have had ENOUGH!" He declared. "Guys, argue in your heads all you want. Imagine throwing dung balls at each other or beating each other to shreds for all I care!" The possum said a bit quiter but still in a serious tone. "Just _don't _start acting like you're about to do it for real!" Eddie shouted.

The mammoth and smilidon drew back. Eddie didn't normally glare at them with such anger in his eyes or make such a dramatic display. Even though they still loathed each other at the moment, Diego and Manny could see the possum had a point. If they continued like this, Sid would never be found and surely their rescue mission would fail.

Manfred and Diego stopped arguing and each took a few steps back to give each other room to breathe. Eddie heaved a loud sigh of relief.

The possum gave the two a moment to relax before speaking up again. "Now…let's go down the hill and _calmly _continue searching for Sid." Eddie was now the director of the trio. He hopped onto Manny's tusk so both creatures could see him. "Diego, no detailed explanations about your tracking unless _really_ needed. Manny, be patient and stop yourself if you feel like you're about to yell."

Diego and Manfred reluctantly nodded. Eddie was surprised they were calming down so easily and listening to him.

Manny took a gargantuan breath. "Okay…let's do this." The pachyderm managed. He tried to speak calmly but the anger was so obvious in his voice that Manny only seemed like he half meant what he had said.

"Right." Diego replied; turning his head away from Manny. The saber still had a look of fire in his eyes but it was beginning to fade. The saber cleared his throat. "Let's get going." He growled quietly, trying to hide the intense irritation he was still feeling.

The two of them began to walk ahead, further down the hill. Eddie gave the two enthusiastic thumbs-up signs. "Right on! Let's do this!" He shouted happily to the still disturbed and peeved mammals to try to lift their spirits.

Despite his herd mates' still bitter moods, Eddie grinned to himself. He had not only managed to stifle a huge argument between Manny and Diego on his own, but he had managed to get Manfred to keep his promise. Somehow it seemed he had kept the mammoth in check. The pachyderm hadn't told Diego that it was Eddie's crazy idea to make up the whole thing about the vultures hearing about the kissing incident as payback for holding him in his mouth like a kill.

Eddie stood up and walked boldly on his rear legs, tail up, head held high. This was a win-win situation for him. He couldn't wait to tell Crash what he had pulled off. All he had to do now was keep an eye on Diego and Manny and wait for them to cool off. However, he was somewhat worried about his brother. Was he was okay, alone back with Ellie and Peaches? Also, even though Manfred had not faltered on keeping his promise, based on what Diego said in the argument, Eddie couldn't help but feel that his highly intelligent saber friend had somehow picked up on the fact that Manny was the culprit who knew about the near kissing incident, not the vultures. Still, he ignored his gut instincts about the situation. More logically, Diego was just blaming Manny for a very humiliating experience and couldn't possibly know the truth.

* * *

How was it? Good, bad silly? Please leave a review and let me know what you think.


	7. Me, Myself and the Other Me

Sorry for the really long wait.

_Thoughts are in italics._

* * *

Sid was on his way down _another _dreaded hill. After waking up in a human camp and being bounced around on a tent, sliding down a steep incline was more than the poor sloth could handle. Sid screamed at the top of his lungs as he slid.

However, he knew he had to take action if he was going to survive. The desperate sloth searched for any object in the snow to slow his descent but to not avail. There weren't any logs, trees, or boulders for him to latch onto. Granted, this made it safer for Sid because he didn't risk hitting anything. Still, even a naive mammal like himself knew this was dangerous.

Suddenly, the sloth skidded over sharp-edged rocks just beneath the snowy incline's surface. As the stones cut him, startled mammal's startled as screams of fear transformed into cries of pain.

"Ow! Yow! Help! Gaah! Argh owey!" The sloth screamed out a different cry each time a jagged rock slashed his rear. "Oh, my poor sloth behind is _never_ going to be the same again!" he howled.

Sid suddenly looked ahead and gasped. He was headed directly toward a thick oak tree! The incline ended there but he had no time to stop.

The poor sloth let out a girlish scream before he slammed head-on into the tree. He was knocked out instantly.

* * *

Sid jolted awake with a startled yelp. Peering around, he could see he was still by the oak tree. Yet somehow, there was no indentation of any kind where he had rammed into it. The snowbank was also still there, as steep and ice-covered and as he remembered it. Also, everything was in shades of blue, grey, and purple.

"Blue, grey, and purple? Huh? Wait a minute here!" Sid shouted, rubbing his eyes.

When he pulled his paws away from his eyes, not only did were his surroundings oddly colored, but everything was blurry and objects around him appeared distorted. As well, the colors were dull; all that appeared in Sid's vision was dim and washed out.

He blinked in frustration but nothing changed. He stood up and began to look around. Despite the fact that the world appeared extremely fuzzy to him, Sid didn't bump into anything.

"Hmm. I wonder if this is what it's like to be dead." he muttered absentmindedly.

Sid waddled around, grinning. He had no clue anything odd was going on. Abruptly, fierce wind began rushing past him and he spotted a brilliant, orange object. Almost instantly, the mammal saw object replicate into two and then into four. The bright objects stood out against the dull surroundings.

"Huh?" Suddenly the wind-like force ceased.

The sloth heard faint voices. They were indistinct, as if they were just voices in his head. Sid continued to walk toward the four orange figures. He had an odd yearning to get closer to them. Two pink and black striped creatures leaped onto one of the four figures. As the confused sloth drew closer, the voices grew louder and clear.

Suddenly, there was a blinding burst of light and wind. Sid let out a brief cry of surprise before he fell onto a soft smelly spot of Earth.

Sid looked up. The possums were playing with dung balls. They were laughing hysterically and hurling the disgusting gunk at each other.

Suddenly, Sid saw a clone of himself run toward the dung patch. "Hey! This looks like fun!"

Without further hesitation, his copy scampered toward the dung patch. But clumsily, the look-alike slipped and fell. The possums gaped as the obnoxious substance was sent flying through the air.

It landed on and coated a squirrel who was about to eat an acorn. Unknowingly, the smiling rodent took a huge bite out of the nut.

But as soon as his teeth touched it, his eyes widened and he looked at the coated nut. He shrieked and spit out the acorn, gagging. The poor creature put his paws in his mouth as he trying to wipe away the awful taste.

However, the squirrel realized his paws were also covered in brown. He squeaked in terror and suddenly glared at the copy of Sid. For some reason, the possums also stared at it angrily.

The sloth saw his other self run up to the possums with a grin on his face and shout, "Whoops. Sorry! It wasn't my fault."

Crash and Eddie glared at Sid's copy even more sourly and ran off.

The real Sid watched in bewilderment. "When did that happen? Hmm, maybe I am dreaming."

Instantly, Sid was roughly and quickly transported to what seemed to be another realm.

This time, he was on Manny's back. However, when he turned around, he screamed.

There was a buck-toothed creature with bug eyes and and obnoxious smile behind him. It was another clone of himself.

_Hmm. I never realized I looked like that up close._

Sid grinned sheepishly and smiled. "Uh, hi." he said with a wave. But the other Sid just kept sitting there, smiling off creepily into space.

Suddenly, the other sloth moved which startled the real Sid. "Hey, Manny! Can we stop for a water break? I am _**Melting **_up here!" the duplicate said dramatically.

The possums burst out in laughter and Diego shook his head. Sid felt his fear of the clone vanish. He frowned, feeling sorry that it had to put up with his short-tempered friends.

The mammoth stopped walking and jerked his head angrily. "No Sid! You begged me for a ride. Now you're getting one! _No_ complaining!" he snapped.

Sid's attention suddenly drifted to Diego and Ellie who were talking.

"You don't think he'll ever change?" Ellie asked the smilodon grimly.

"No. Never. Trust me. We have tried over and over. Nothing can save him from his own stupidity." Diego replied almost sadly. "Something will attack Sid one day and we won't be able to save him." he added.

The saber coughed. "And with how he's been lately... I have my doubts..." Diego looked at sloth's copy and Manny and then back at Ellie.

"You can't mean we're going to have to kick him out?" the cow looked at Diego with fear in her eyes. "I know it's best for the rest of us. Still, you know he doesn't mean it."

Sid saw Ellie glance at Manny and his other self who were now having a vicious argument about 'respect'. He saw her lower her head and let out a huge sigh as all hope faded from her eyes.

The sloth felt a lone tear slide down his cheek. _Why are all my friends so sad? They were just picking on the other me a minute ago! What did I do wrong?_

Out of no where, Manny's trunk appeared. Sid gasped when he saw the clone snatched off the mammoth's back and the angry pachyderm place it harshly on the ground.

"Stop treating me like a helpless baby! _You're_ the one who is selfish!" the other Sid angrily lisped. "I'm _sick_ of being treated like dirt!" The copy put his paws on his hips and glared at Manny.

"Well. Thanks to your _lack_ of sense, Peaches got taken by humans and we have no idea if she is alive or dead!" Manny bellowed, glaring furiously at the sloth. "I was nice by giving you a ride and now you are treating me like this? You led my daughter away last night without permission!"

"It's all about you isn't it!" the look-alike taunted. "Me, me, me! That's all you ever think about!"

Sid saw the other sloth glaring and did not like the look on his face. _Wait, what am I doing? I shouldn't just let my friends be upset! I need to help up them and put that other sloth in line!_

Sid balled his paws into fists and confidently raised them in the air. "I got it!" he exclaimed.

He slid off Manny's back and landed ungracefully onto the hard ground below. But the aching in his side where he landed did not stop Sid. He rushed up to the arguing mammals.

"Hey sloth...uh other me.. and Manny! Can I cut in for a sec?" But neither seemed to hear him. Sid noticed his other self was ranting on in anger and it really seemed to be hurting his larger friend.

"I'm a better parent than you could ever be!" the duplicate protested. "Plus, there isn't anything wrong with taking my favorite niece for a walk! You know, you could be a much better parent!"

Sid glanced at Manny. His eyes seemed cloudy, as if lost in deep thought. If anything, he seemed to be mourning. "Hey! Can you leave my friend alone for a bit! I think you're hurting him." he told the furious sloth.

But the copy didn't hear him. The real Sid gasped. It finally occurred to him, no one could hear him! _What kind of world is this?_

The sloth snapped out of his thoughts when a huge, furry foot almost landed on him. He lunged out of the way, just in time to avoid getting stampeded on by Ellie.

"I have had _**enough**_ Sid!" she scolded the replica harshly. "And I am sick of your attitude! Taking Peaches away from us in the dead of night is not at all..." The cow stamped her foot to emphasize her point, "...in the least bit... acceptable to me!" The female mammoth backed the replica up against a boulder.

"_Ellie_?" the real Sid muttered, jaw barely moving. He was so astonished that he felt light-headed. Since when would Ellie, who always stood up for him in the worst times, suddenly turn on him in such a manner? The cow was enraged and behaved in a way that looked completely unnatural for her.

To his chagrin, the belligerent sloth folded its arms and looked at Ellie with a scowl. "Stop treating me like Manny does. You never cared for me." The replica muttered. He sat by the rock, turning away like a rebellious child.

"You have **no** right to disrespect my mate like that or me!" she said angrily.

The copy snuck his tongue out in response.

A sudden and disturbing thought came to mind. _Wait! This other sloth looks exactly like me... and my friends get mad at me a lot too. I never really know why half the time. That must mean... _"I must have treated them horribly all this time and never noticed!" he screamed. The stunned mammal put his clawed paws to his chest, panting.

"Sid..." Ellie said in shock to the replica. "What has gotten into you?" she asked, her anger subsiding. She was clearly upset.

Sid gazed around. The possums were gaping and Diego was growling. He stood beside Manny who seemed both troubled and enraged.

The saber stopped growling and sighed deeply. "Don't worry buddy. We'll find your daughter one way or another." Diego said to the mammoth.

Sid's lower lip trembled and he felt tears begin to cascade down his cheeks. Everything was falling apart._ Am I really so mean to my friends? How could I not have noticed before?_

"No. What was gotten into you? You know what? I don't like you any more!" Sid heard his other self yell at Ellie defiantly. The duplicate furrowed its brows and glared.

The female mammoth drew back, appalled and hurt.

Suddenly, Sid heard Ellie's brothers coming to her aid followed by Manny.

Out of nowhere, Diego sprinted toward him. He tried to dash out of the way. But the saber didn't see and he tripped over Sid. The feline fell on his front legs and bent them the wrong way. The smilodon roared in pain.

Turning his head, he saw Ellie weeping. Then, someone shouted a long, agonized, "Noooooo!" As everything suddenly faded to black, Sid realized the horrible cry had come from himself.

Sid knew now, he had not only been a pain in the neck for his friends because of his clumsiness. He also felt like he was a horrible friend.

* * *

Meanwhile, Manny and Diego were following Eddie in silence. Begrudgingly, they had chosen to cooperate. Still, they were far from over their quarrel from before.

The two scowled at each other frequently and avoided eye contact. The only mammal that spoke was Eddie as they traveled through a thick maple and pine forest.

Manny sighed. This was taking forever. Still, Eddie seemed very upbeat. He was expected to keep his secret. But how? He literally felt like throwing Diego off a cliff. But was it worth it to betray a friend for his own dignity and a possum he a fan of? Was it right to keep his promise to Eddie to get back at Diego under these circumstances?

The mammoth abruptly snapped out of his daze when he Eddied shouted a surly, "Halt!"

The pachyderm turned his head. Diego was behind him, sniffing the ground with narrowed eyes. Manny gazed around nervously.

"What is going-?"

"This is it!" Eddie shouted enthusiastically as he bounded toward his comrades. All seriousness in his voice was replaced by excitement. "This is the last place Sid was."

"Yep!" Diego replied with fake interest. His eyes wandered away from the energetic possum. "This place smells strongly of humans. Not just of Sid. Great news..." he muttered sarcastically.

Cautiously, the three made their way to the human camp. Manny kept his eyes peeled for humans hiding in the forest and Diego crouched low.

"Guys! Why are all of you acting like scaredy cats?" Eddie asked jovially. As he talked, the possum carelessly walked forward with his eyes closed, striding along. "It's not like there are any humans-" Eddie bumped into something warm, smooth and fur-less.

The marsupial opened his eyes. "Aaaaaaaaaah! the shocked possum screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Bwaaaaaaaaaaashgggggaaaaa!" the old man Eddie bumped into howled in fright. The human got up and sprinted away, waving his arms frantically in the air. He repeatedly yelled the same unfathomable saying, "Goooclame timata! Goooclame timata!", to warn his fellow tribesmen of the animals he had seen.

Manny, Eddie, and Diego soon heard the shouts of hunters and barking dogs. Immediately, the three fled.

After the uncomfortably close encounter, the trio made a group decision to wait a while before trying to approach the human camp again. The three found a secluded area in the thick woods to hide out until they got the chance to go back. According to the local animals, the humans were going to depart within the next day and did not have Sid with them.

Despite that, Manny, Eddie, and Diego were still very worried about returning to get clues about Sid's whereabouts. However, they knew that they would have to face their fears if they would ever find Sid.

* * *

Sid woozily opened his eyes. His head throbbed like none other and the world he saw was a spinning blurry mess. He could not think nor figure out what was going on.

It took hours before the sloth could properly sit up and see clearly. The first thought that popped into his head was his friends. Sid remembered his dream and wondered where they were.

Sid opened his eyes, and for the first time since he regained consciousness, took a look at his surroundings. Unlike in his dream, the oak tree he had run into had a huge gash in its bark. As well, there were deep skids marks and a light sprinkling of red in the snow. Sid was not lying right up against the battered tree but off to its right. Apparently, after hitting the gargantuan oak, he had been knocked off to the side from the impact.

Slowly, he got up. "Wow. That was one rough ride. Hills and I do not get along." he muttered.

Sid suddenly gasped. "**Wait**, how could I forget so quickly!" Sid harshly reprimanded himself. "How I treat my friends!" The sloth slapped himself on the forehead in frustration.

"Oww!" he uttered as he lost balance and fell face down in the snow. Sid felt the horrible ache returning to his head and his vision growing fuzzy again.

Sid put a paw on his head and spit out a mouthful of melting snow. "I promise you, all of you. Diego, Manny, Crash, Eddie, Ellie, and Peaches... I will **_not _**let you down." he said with seriousness and determination. Sid looked up from where he lay and pointed a claw into the air. "Mark my words. I will learn to be good to my friends! Awkwardness won't stop me and neither will my intellect!" he shouted as if giving a speech to an unseen foe.

The tenacious sloth used all the strength he had to pull himself up and stand. "I'm not going to give up on becoming a better friend. No one will stop me, not even **myself**!"

Sid furrowed his brows and stared into the sky with great determination.

On a nearby tree limb, a family of seven Scrats clapped for him. They were all moved by his speech. One even shed a tear. The sloth didn't notice the squirrels squeaking at him with praise and egging him on to accomplish what he was after. The Scrats had seen Sid slam into the tree and then wake up and make such a successful comeback. They were too timid to follow him but they admired his courage.

However, the seven rodents suddenly saw an acorn fall from the above. All seven squeaked and dashed madly to the acorn, thoughts of anything but food forgotten.

* * *

Yay! This chapter is finally done! *does happy dance*


	8. I Know More Than You Think I Do!

_Thoughts are in italics_

* * *

Crash was having the time of his life. Not only had Bella─ who had paired up with him to find Sid─ proven herself to be an incredible runner, but she a true adventurer.

As the wind rushed past the possum and he rode atop Bella's back, he could not help but feel honored to have her as a traveling companion.

While the two searched, Bella was on the go non-stop. She used her oversized snout to find any clues to Sid's and the rest of the herd's whereabouts. As well, she jabbered endlessly about her daring experiences in the wild during her youth.

"So, after that Crach, the wooly rhino chased me to the edge of the forest. I was scooped up!" the old-timer said with a grin on her face.

"Really? By what?" Crash said with extreme excitement and fascination. He was hanging off her every word, too captivated by her story to decipher which parts were true and which were mere exaggerations.

"A caveman." she answered casually.

"Really?" Crash uttered, eyes wide. "Like the ones who took Sid?"

"Quite like the ones who took Sid. Identical in fact in form, height, and hunting technique." she explained. Crash gaped.

Bella slowed to a walk and sniffed the trail. "You know kiddo, I'm more of a story-teller than I am a thrill-seeker."

"But Bell, I thought you said-"

"Yeah. Yeah. Those were the good old days." the female aardvark scowled slightly. "I was really into mischief when I was a youngster. I've had more than a girl's fair of close encounters. However, not everything I've told you is true."

Crash gazed at her with curiosity and hints of growing disappointment.

"To be honest kiddo, my memory has faded over the years. I am healthy physically but my mind isn't what as sharp as it could be." she explained, her voice sounding more tired and raspy than usual. Bella used her prehensile snout to take Crash and set him on the ground so she could talk to him face-to-face.

"Cesh. You really need to learn to tell real life from old folk tales. I don't mean to bust your bubble kid. But most of the stuff I remember doing were just tales my parents told me as a kid."

Crash stared at her uncertainly before a hopeful grin made its way onto his face. "Oh c'mon. You are Bella! _Bell_ the Awesome! You wouldn't forget what you did!" The possum made a fist and struck a pose to emphasize how courageous he thought she was. "You're the _only_ aardvark I have ever heard of that fought off a rabid fox and outsmarted an angry polar bear!"

"True that I did those one of those two things." the female looked the possum in the eye with great seriousness. "But the point is, you **need** to get yourself grounded. Life on the run is dangerous. Lost all of my adventure pals in one swing that way. …I'm saying this because I care."

The possum looked down and sighed. Crash tried to avoid taking to heart the harsh reality he had been slapped in the face with. But to his dismay, what the elder stated to him seemed to stick.

Just when she thought Crash had gotten his hopes down far enough, Bella gave him a big smile and wink.

"Now, enough rolling in the mud. Let's go find your friend Sild and the rest of your gang!"

"Dudette! But I thought you were just giving me the 'let's stop having fun and play it safe' speech! What's with the sudden change of attitude?" he retorted, mildly irritated.

Bella scratched her chin with one of her forelegs. "Well Accident... everyone needs balance you know... Like the world we live in. Those who play risk too often risk everything."

Crash stood still for a moment, searching for the deeper meaning within her words.

But before he knew it, Bella bounded ahead. "You stalling or what Cash? We have a floppy green thing to find kid! Ready to go?"

The marsupial gave her his classic dare-devil grin. "As ready as I'll ever be!" he shouted. Crash scurried to catch up with the already running aardvark.

The possum had grown to admire the wise old female in just the day they had been traveling together. She had a certain spark to her─ something neither Ellie nor his own mother had. Crash loved her fun-loving attitude and genuine yet crafty nature. She was full of wisdom, but she also had a comical naivety brought on by failing memory.

Soon enough, the tireless aardvark began telling another whimsical adventure story. Crash couldn't help grin to himself as he scampered behind her. He had finally found a creature to look up to who shared his sense of fun. He couldn't wait to tell his brother.

* * *

Diego, Manny, and Eddie were spending the night in a thicket a safe distance from the human camp.

Eddie was hanging upside-down from a tree limb mostly out of earshot of the other two mammals. The marsupial was snoring lightly and was placed further away from other two for good reason. Tonight, he was shouting and muttering off-the-wall phrases and sentences. This was fairly unusual for him. It was typically Sid who kept the herd awake with his sleep-talking.

"Humans roast Sid... mmmhmm." Eddie murmured.

"Offgg dreaming mmmehhet... of mud pies bmmm."

"Breaking the fourth wool! Dun dunnny dun... from the ice guum... land." The possum shifted slightly.

"Man eats bats!"

However, more was on the saber and mammoth's minds than the annoying possum and people with spears.

It was past midnight but Manny was still awake, thinking about his foolish lie.

_Why did I do that? I should have trusted my instincts! The possums are trouble-making hooligans and always will be. _

"Mischief matchers are the besttttsss mmmhhmm." Eddie muttered in the distance. Fortunately, he was too far away and spoke too quietly to be heard.

Manny exhaled deeply and glanced at Diego. The saber appeared to be sleeping with his head on his paws and a frown on his face.

_I wish I could go back and undo this... But how can I? I have come up with so many ideas that will not work! Telling him now will just make him angrier and if I try to get help from Ellie when we get back, she would be mad. _

"Logic is in ta... mooth mouth of the to be a... holder!" Manny heard Eddie shout in his sleep. However he ignored it.

_I have no idea how to settle this without another fight with Diego. _

"...Them sky paint... green ... Aaah!"

_Maybe I should ask..._

"Possums wooool!" the marsupial practically shrieked in his slumber.

_NO! Asking Eddie is ABSOLUTELY out of the question! He got me in this mess and he isn't going to help get me out._

The mammoth sighed, calming his nerves. Manny realized thinking about this hour after hour was futile. He was not achieving anything and was just riling himself up.

This will have to wait for the morning.

"It's a small spear spickiii livil...mmm too gooooo!" the possum randomly sang.

Manny finally lost his patience. "Would you **shut up** already?" he shouted at the sleeping marsupial.

The pachyderm forced his eyes shut. He tried to abstain from thinking about the situation in hopes that it would allow him to relax and eventually sleep. However, even then, he had Eddie's random outcries to worry about...

However Manny did not notice that his saber friend had been watching him. The argument with Manfred had evoked an unpleasant feeling of distrust in Diego. Furthermore, his friend's uneasiness near him, sleeplessness, and awkward glances filled him with suspicion. However, Diego didn't need anything spelled out to him to know what the mammoth was hiding.

_Manny so worried about Sid he can't sleep? Not likely._ Diego scoffed.

"Dart... me Vapor Vater..." the possum slurred.

The growing feeling of betrayal inside Diego filled him with anger. Yet, he knew it wasn't like he had not tested the mammoth's own trust before. He would have to be careful when getting back at the pachyderm.

However, the smilodon knew he needed to be patient. He couldn't start an argument blindly. No. His come-back would have to be at exactly the right time. As well, Diego hoped it would cause Manny to experience an equal amount of humiliation to what he had been feeling lately. Still, Diego needed to make sure what he did created no lasting damage to his friendship with Manny.

_Scheming... I have barely done it in years. But Soto didn't place me as second in command for nothing. Time to get back my dignity!_

"Food... ...Glorinessam. Stewww msmmm..." the possum muttered too quietly for the large carnivore to hear.

Diego stared at Manny, his eyes shining blue in the darkness. A small, sly smile crept onto his face.

"Ittty... Vultures! Vultures! Vultmmhmm ghmm." Eddie shouted.

_That's right. Scream all you want. Manny will pay. ...And so will you Eddie._ He winked at them both.

* * *

So what will Diego do? Is he plotting revenge or not? In the next few chapters you will find out!


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